The true cost of keeping killers locked up

IT WAS a crime that was so unspeakably brutal that, once you've heard about it, you can never forget the face of Anita Cobby or imagine the hell she went through.

The vile gang rape and murder of the 26-year-old nurse from Blacktown in Sydney's west sent shockwaves through Australia shortly after the details of it emerged 32 years ago.

Even the most hardened police officers were reduced to tears when they heard the details.

So, despite calls for the death penalty to be reinstated for the five men who were found guilty of the young woman's killing - John Travers, Michael Murdoch and brothers Michael, Leslie and Gary Murphy - they were sentenced to prison for the rest of their lives.

Anita Cobby was just 26 when her life was cut horrifically short.

Justice Alan Maxwell labelled it "one of the most horrifying physical and sexual assaults" and "a calculated killing done in cold blood".